Seattle City Light and its sponsoring partners of the Barnaby Reach Project have begun work dismantling old hatchery infrastructure in the vicinity of Barnaby Slough. We are not opposing this work, and as we’ve repeatedly made clear, we support fisheries resource recovery. However, it’s evident to us that Seattle City Light and the other sponsors won’t be content doing what’s reasonable and safe for our neighbors. They refuse to withdraw the dangerous option of constructing a channel to divert a substantial portion of the Skagit River into the Barnaby Slough. In spite of scientific evidence showing that our geography is highly susceptible to erosion, and in spite of the fact that diverting the Skagit would come with risk so great that it can’t be known, Barnaby Project Sponsors have declared their intent to keep river redirection on the table. Their dismissive attitude is illustrated by remarks in Seattle City Light’s recent 2020 Annual Fisheries Report, filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in which they characterize our opposition to a 2014 plan to redirect the Skagit toward our Martin Road neighborhood as simply “unfortunate”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We must make it clear that we reserve all our rights. We must make it clear that we oppose any plan that includes active flow redirection into the Barnaby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is a letter signed by over sixty residents and landowners of our area stating our shared position regarding planned Barnaby Project activities, and making it clear that we are reserving all rights to fight any intention or effort any of these parties may advance which portends harm or increased exposure to flood risk. The letter also takes Seattle City Light to task for its thoughtless disregard for the serious concerns we have had for the last eight years about their inappropriate, excessively risky project intentions, as well as its claim to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that it has community support. Seattle City Light, you’ve got no community support here for diverting the Skagit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
July 27, 2021 (updated)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barnaby Reach Project Co-Sponsors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Skagit River System Cooperative<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seattle City Light<\/p>\n\n\n\n Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nature Conservancy<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n As residents and land owners of Martin Road and other neighborhoods near the Barnaby Reach Complex, we write to express a clear and united position about the Barnaby Project proposed by Seattle City Light and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We thank you for the recent tour of proposed Phase I work, hosted by Seattle City Light and Skagit River Systems Cooperative staff. We reserve all rights and take no position on the removal of road structures and derelict hatchery improvements, which you believe will restore natural flow to the Barnaby Complex and permit increased access by juvenile salmonids. We trust that the heavy civil construction and other significant disruption this work involves will be conducted in a manner that will minimize impact to both the human and non-human environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We support modest recreational development in the Barnaby Complex, as proposed in the site plan, to accommodate activities like walking and enjoyment of wildlife in ways which do not jeopardize this critical habitat. We do not support promoting significant increased public access to the Barnaby Complex at the expense of environmental values around which the Barnaby Project and its associated public funding was originally conceived, and may impinge on traditional hunting and gathering activities by local tribal and non-tribal communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, we want to make clear that we are vehemently opposed to any plans that involve active flow redirection into the Barnaby Complex, which has, at various times, been proposed for later phases of work.\u00a0\u00a0Seattle City Light\u2019s recent 2020 Annual Fisheries Report, filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 15, 2021, states that it is \u201cunfortunate\u201d that local residents have expressed concerns about the project, noting that SCL continues to study its future phases. In addition to minimizing our community\u2019s legitimate concerns, this is not consistent with the public message from SCL and SRSC staff communicated at the recent public information event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Active flow redirection will significantly increase the risk of avulsion, channel migration, and other major adverse hydrological impacts on neighboring properties, roads, and infrastructure downstream of the Barnaby Complex, including (but not limited to) the State Route 530 bridge over the Skagit River, which alone would likely require hundreds of millions of dollars to replace should it be cut off by an avulsion event. These potential risks are very much the community\u2019s concern, and there is little evidence that the project proponents are taking these risks seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides involving likely costs and impacts that would far outweigh any reasonable estimate of the benefit to the fisheries resource, we would urge you to consider the Washington Supreme Court\u2019s holding in Halverson v. Skagit County, 139 Wn.2d 1 (1999), creating joint and several liability for those who intentionally direct water with no flood control purpose in a manner that causes foreseeable downstream damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We strongly support efforts to restore the Skagit fisheries resource, in part to meet Treaty obligations and in part because Skagit salmon are part of our culture as well, a concern heightened by the steep decline in Skagit Chinook and Steelhead over the past 15 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of us have lived here for generations and plan to continue calling this valley our home into future generations, together with the Treaty Tribes that have lived and fished here since time immemorial. As such, we believe that the task of salmon recovery in the Skagit must be approached rationally, with very high care and concern for offsite impacts on other land, infrastructure and services, and a focus on actually restoring harvestable numbers of salmon and steelhead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because active flow redirection schemes in the Barnaby Complex fail to meet these criteria, we will be forced to oppose them should they proceed as previously represented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you for considering our concerns regarding the Barnaby Reach Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This letter is published on our website: http:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/?p=2121<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact: skagitneighbors@icloud.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thomas M. Dellinger, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donovan Dellinger, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tyler Dellinger, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Howard Stafford, Stafford Lane, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Karen Stafford, Stafford Lane, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Hallock, Stafford Lane, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Melinda Hews, Stafford Lane, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lee Fenley, Stafford Lane, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lisa Fenley, Stafford Lane, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Janine Weyand, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jeffrey Weyand, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Denton Moore, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jessica D. Moore, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ruth A. Haverfield, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Randy Haverfield, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kevin Davis, SR 20, Marblemount<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rebecca Rising, SR 20, Marblemount<\/p>\n\n\n\n Briana Eaken, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Athena Caley, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Melissa Norris, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clay Norris, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Angela S. Moss, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Richard L. Moss, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marilyn D. Cornish, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jeff Cornish, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roland Caley, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Debra S. Caley, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tanya Williams, Rockport Cascade Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bradley Williams, Rockport Cascade Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jasmin Williams, Rockport Cascade Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Susan Moore, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donald K. Moore, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verl Jarmin, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Violet M. Johnson, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Angie Neidigh, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n James Neidigh, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mary Hambright, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Hambright, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n GuruBani Whitney Young, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew Van Boven, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tommie Mathis, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gary Sippel, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Todd Mathis, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russell Taylor, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shayna Sanders, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Parent, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tahlia Honea, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ellen Gay Dellinger Lafayette, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Richard Dellinger, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonja Dellinger, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sacha Buller, Stafford Lane, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Robert Fox, SR 530, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michael Goodman, SR 530, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doreen Goodman, SR 530, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raissa Hines, Rockport Cascade Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina Dent, Rockport Cascade Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Van Boven, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marjorie Van Boven, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Robert Hornbeck, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sherri Hornbeck, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ann Booker, Martin Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dawn Koenig, Rockport Cascade Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Koenig, Rockport Cascade Road, Rockport<\/p>\n\n\n\n Copy to:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Skagit County Board of Commissioners<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe (Chair Nino Maltos & Council)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Upper Skagit Indian Tribe (Chair Jennifer Washington & Council)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (Chair Steve Edwards & Senate)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Washington State Department of Transportation Regional Office <\/p>\n\n\n\n Governor\u2019s Salmon Recovery Office<\/p>\n\n\n\n Senator Keith Wagoner<\/p>\n\n\n\n Representative Carolyn Eslick<\/p>\n\n\n\n Representative Robert Sutherland<\/p>\n\n\n\n Skagit Watershed Council (Richard Brocksmith & Board)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Federal Energy Regulatory Commission<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Seattle City Light and its sponsoring partners of the Barnaby Reach Project have begun work dismantling old hatchery infrastructure in the vicinity of Barnaby Slough. We are not opposing this work, and as we’ve repeatedly made clear, we support fisheries resource recovery. However, it’s evident to us that Seattle City Light and the other sponsors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,47,48,44,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-barnaby-project","category-barnaby-project-information","category-featured","category-pinned","sticky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2121"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2167,"href":"https:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2121\/revisions\/2167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skagitupriverneighbors.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}